THE MacBETH REPORT:
This was filed late Friday night . . .
No player moves today but we have some Glen Hanlon news. This is from the English-version website of the Belarus Ice Hockey Association:
Former Belarus national team head coach, Canadian specialist Glen Hanlon arrived in Minsk on May 29 by invitation of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association to hold negotiations on the prospects of his work as the national team head coach. Earlier, the Canadian had lead the team in 2005, 2006, and 2009. Let’s note that team Belarus achieved its best result at the IIHF WMs with Glen Hanlon as a head coach in 2006 in Latvia (6th place) and in 2009 the team promoted to the quarterfinals (8th place). Glen Hanlon also coached HC Dinamo Minsk in 2009.”
The contract of head coach Andrei Skabelka wasn’t renewed at the end of May. Belarus is the host team for the 2014 IIHF world championship.
Last month, Hanlon resigned from his position as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants.
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The moves....
F Mark Derlago (Brandon, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with Aalborg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had 30 goals and 41 assists in 41 games for Anyang Halla (South Korea, Asian Hockey League) this season. Derlago finished fifth in league scoring. . . .
Mora (Sweden, Allsvenskan) announced the signings of F Jeremy Colliton (Prince Albert, 2001-05) and D Jonathan Harty (Everett, 2004-08) to one-year contracts. . . . Colliton played senior hockey with the Allan Cup-champion Bentley Generals (Alberta, Chinook Hockey League) this season. He had 11 goals and 16 assists in 41 games as captain of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) last season. . . . Harty had two goals and nine assists in 18 games with Angers (France, Ligue Magnus) this season.
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At least two WHLers are going back into the NHL draft. . . . F Shane McColgan of the Saskatoon Blades wasn’t signed by the New York Rangers. They had selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft. McColgan, who will be heading into his 20-year-old season, had 66 points in 69 games with the Blades, who last summer acquired the native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., from the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Meanwhile, Spokane Chiefs D Brendan Kichton also will be available in the draft. Kichton, from Spruce Grove, Alta., was a fifth-round pick by the New York Islanders in the 2011 draft. He led all WHL defencemen in scoring in each of the last three seasons, putting up 81, 74 and 85 points, but the Islanders chose not to sign him. Kichton has used up his junior eligibility.
As well, I don’t believe the Ottawa Senators signed Victoria Royals D Jordan Fransoo, who was a seventh-round selection in 2011, while I don’t think the Winnipeg Jets signed D Zach Yuen, who was a fourth-round pick. Both are heading into their 20-year-old seasons.
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F Luke Paulsen, who played three seasons with the Kootenay Ice, will attend the U of Manitoba and play for the Bisons in 2013-14. Paulsen, from Winnipeg, was with the Ice from 2009-12 and at one point in 2011-12 actually retired from the game after suffering a brain injury. This season, he got into 19 games with the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues.
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The Vancouver Giants simply are rolling the dice with the trade they made to acquire D Dalton Thrower from the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Dickson Liong has that story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Steve Christie, a native of Winnipeg, is the U of Manitoba Bisons’ new goaltending coach. Christie, 28, played four seasons (2006-11) with the Bisons before going onto a pro career. He got into 14 games this season with the Southern Professional league’s Pensacola Ice Flyers.
The USHL’s Omaha Lancers have signed Brian Kaufman as their general manager and head coach. Kaufman, 29, was an assistant coach with the Lancers last season. Kaufman played four seasons at Miami U (Ohio) and spent 2011-12 there as a graduate assistant coach. . . . Kaufman replaces Mike Aikens after he and the Lancers agreed to go their different ways with two games left in the regular season. Kaufman ran the bench after Aikens left.
The Central league’s Brampton Beast has hired former professional player Brent Hughes as an assistant coach. He will work alongside head coach Mark Desantis. . . . The Beast is preparing for its first season in Brampton. Desantis and Hughes were teammates and roommates while playing with the Central league’s Amarillo Gorillas. Hughes, who played four seasons in the Central league, also played with the OHL’s Brampton Battalion in 2001-02.
The NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild, the new version, has signed general manager/head coach Bliss Littler. The Wild franchise that Littler coached this season has moved to the Hidalgo, Texas, and has been replaced in Wenatchee by the former Fresno Monsters. The Fresno franchise has adopted the Wild nickname and owner David White has signed Littler to a five-year deal. . . . Chris Clark and Tom Rudrud will return as the assistant coaches.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) was released by Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) at the end of his tryout contract. . . .
D Ross Lupaschuk (Lethbridge, Prince Albert, Red Deer, 1996-2001)
signed a tryout contract with the Vienna Capitals (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had two goals and one assist in 15 games with Cologne (Germany, DEL) last season. . . .
F Clarke Breitkruez (Regina, Prince George, 2008-10) signed a one-year contract with Duisburg (Germany, Oberliga). He had 31 goals and 37 assists in 51 games for the Yorkton Terriers (SJHL) last season.
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The Everett Silvertips got down to three 20-year-olds on Saturday when F Scott MacDonald was one of the players released from training camp. MacDonald, from Surrey, B.C., has played three WHL seasons, one with the Chilliwack Bruins and two with the Silvertips. Last season, he had 22 points and 40 penalty minutes in 69 games with Everett. . . . His departure leaves Everett with F Josh Birkholz, F Tyler Maxwell and D Brennan Yadlowski as its 20-year-olds.
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The Regina Pats have acquired F Campbell Elynuik, who will turn 19 on Dec. 25, from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. A seventh-round pick by Everett in the 2007 draft, Elynuik had five points and 54 penalty minutes in 28 games last season, which was shortened by injury. In 76 games with the Silvertips, he had eight points and 135 penalty minutes. Undrafted, he attended the Philadelphia Flyers’ development camp earlier this summer and will attend their training camp next month. His father, Pat, played in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders (1984-87) and also split 506 NHL games between the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators.
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The Victoria Royals have signed F Logan Nelson, an 18-year-old product of Rogers, Minn. He’s a 6-foot-1, 187-pounder who had 15 points and 69 penalty minutes in 43 games with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers last season.
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If you haven’t yet heard about a concussion-related experiment in which the Saskatoon Blades are involved, check out this story by Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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The Thunderbird Community Sports Foundation, which is supported by fans of the Seattle Thunderbirds, has made a lot of people happy by handing out almost US$65,000 in grants. Steve Hunter of the Kent Reporter has that story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Brent Hughes is out as head coach of the NAHL’s Corpus Christi IceRays. The club announced Saturday that it “has decided not to retain” his services. Assistant coach Justin Quenneville has been named the interim head coach. . . . Hughes, a former NHL player, had been the IceRays’ head coach since February 2009. . . . Quenneville, who played four seasons in Corpus Christi, spent last season as director of hockey operations and assistant coach.
The Prince George Cougars have hired Phil Guenter as their goaltending coach. Guenter, 31, is based in Lethbridge and has been coaching goaltenders for 12 years. In 10 of those years, he has worked with Prince George G Drew Owsley, 20, who was acquired this summer from the Tri-City Americans. . . . “We want to make Drew's transition to Prince George as easy as possible and Phil has been his goalie coach for a long time, and this will help make things easier,” Cougars head coach Dean Clark said in a news release. "We look forward to also having Phil work with our younger guys." . . .
The WHL-champion Kootenay Ice has picked up the option years on the contracts for Garnet Kaziuk, the director of scouting, head coach Kris Knoblauch and assistant coaches Todd Johnson and Jerry Bancks. All four now are signed through 2012-13. . . . “The success we have maintained over the past 13 years both on and off the ice can partially be attributed to having good people in key positions,” Jeff Chynoweth, the franchise’s president and general manager, said in a news release. “Stability and continuity are the keys to any successful organization and these four gentlemen are a big part of what we are all trying to achieve.” . . . Kazuik has been with the Ice through four seasons. Knoblauch joined the Ice as an assistant coach four years ago and is coming of his first season as head coach, having led the team to its third titlein 11 WHL seasons. Johnson and Bancks both signed on to the coaching staff a year ago.
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